Iranian president Hassan Rouhani fired the threat towards the UK as tensions stretch to breaking point in the Middle East.

Rouhani’s comments come as Iran threatened to seize British oil tankers in the Middle East.

It was threatened to be a direct response to the Royal Marines capture of Grace 1 last week.

The 300,000 ton supertanker was taken in a swoop by fast boats and a helicopter as it was believed to be transporting illegal oil to Syria.

And the row over the tankers rages amid Iran’s ongoing feud with the West over the so-called nuclear deal, with Iran yesterday threatening missile strikes on US bases.

“You are the initiator of insecurity and you will realise the consequences later”

President Hassan Rouhani

Iran has demanded the immediate release of the tanker Grace 1, which remains impounded in Gibraltar.

Royal Marines took the vessel without a shot being fired after it was flagged as being in breach of EU sanctions on the regime of brutal Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

And amid Iran’s new threats to UK vessels, Daily Star Online revealed the Royal Navy has rushed HMS Montrose to the Strait of Hormuz. 

HMS Montrose – a Type 23 frigate – escorted Brit tanker Pacific Voyager through the waterway amid fears it may be boarded by Iranian pirates. 

Rouhani said: “You [Britain] are the initiator of insecurity and you will realise the consequences later.

The president also said Iran’s decision to increase uranium enrichment would produce fuel for power plants and serve other peaceful aims.

He add that it was within the framework of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran has been squaring up to the West as it reels over the scrapping of the so-called nuclear deal by the US, which traded a pledge not to develop nukes for eased sanctions.

Words have become action the Middle East as five tankers have been attacked since May – with the US firmly pointing the finger at Iran.

Iran has denied was behind the attacks on the ship which were all passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

And tensions flared as Iran shot down a US drone, almost sparking a limited strike by Washington before an 11th hour U-turn by Trump.

Iran has warned however such an attack would have been a declaration of war by the US. 

The ayatollah has been demanding that nations such as Britain and its European allies pick-up the slack as Donald Trump’s administration imposes crushing new penalties.

Tehran has said the measures are just for power plant fuel, and will not be used for the development of nukes.

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, plus the foreign affairs chief of the European Union, said in a statement that Iran was “pursuing activities inconsistent with its commitments”.

Trump’s administration argues the deal was too soft on Iran and it didn’t impact its missile programme of sponsor of terrorism. 

In a statement, the European countries said: “Iran has stated that it wants to remain within the JCPoA. 

“It must act accordingly by reversing these activities and returning to full JCPoA compliance without delay.”

Iran has said it wants to continue to abide by the agreement but cannot do so indefinitely if US sanctions prevent it from receiving any of the promised economic benefits.

And a top Iranian cleric warned the US faces a “sea of blood” if it attacks them in a new war in the Middle East.  

Iran boasted this weekend it would further scale back its commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

It pledged to raise its uranium enrichment beyond agreed levels to produce fuel for power plants.

The cap is one of many restrictions imposed by the deal that were aimed at extending the time Iran would need to produce a nuclear bomb, if it chose to, to a year from roughly two to three months.

The United States and the UN nuclear watchdog believe Iran had a nuclear weapons programme that it abandoned. Tehran denies ever having had one.

• Iran

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